Field of Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to digital media and, more specifically, to sorting digital media based on user preferences.
Description of Related Art
Digital content distribution systems conventionally include a content server, a content player, and a communications network connecting the content server to the content player. The content server is configured to store digital content files, which can be downloaded from the content server to the content player. Each digital content file corresponds to a specific identifying title, such as “Gone with the Wind,” which is familiar to a user. The digital content file typically includes sequential content data, organized according to playback chronology, and may comprise audio data, video data, or a combination thereof.
The content player is configured to download and play a digital content file, in response to a user request selecting the title for playback. The process of playing the digital content file includes decoding and rendering audio and video data into an audio signal and a video signal, which may drive a display system having a speaker subsystem and a video subsystem. Playback typically involves a technique known in the art as “streaming,” whereby the content server sequentially transmits the digital content file to the content player, and the content player plays the digital content file while content data is received that comprises the digital content file.
Many content servers contain more digital content files than can reasonably be presented to a user at a single point in time. For instance, a particular content server may contain 10,000 different digital content files, each corresponding to a separate identifying title. However, in such an example, even if all 10,000 digital content files could be presented to the user at once, such a presentation may well overwhelm the user with information and content the user may be interested in watching could become hidden by the amount of other content being displayed. As such, many content servers attempt to identify a limited number of digital content files that will be relevant to a particular user and present only this limited set of content files to the user.